Game Objective

In Notre Dame, you take on the role of the head of an influential family in 14th-century Paris. Your goal is to compete for prosperity and reputation in the shadow of the cathedral. By using action cards, you will place influence markers in various sectors of your borough to gain money, more influence, and prestige. The player with the most prestige at the end of the game is the winner.

Preparation (Setup)

1. Board Layout: Arrange the game board sections in the middle of the table. Place the Notre Dame tile based on the player count: 3-sided for 3 players, 4-sided for 4 players, and 5-sided for 5 players.
2. Borough Selection: Each player selects one game board section as their borough.
3. Supplies: Place prestige tokens and gold coins next to the board as a general supply.
4. Player Components: Each player chooses a color and takes:
   • The trusted friend (placed in their play area).
   • The carriage (placed on the market place in the center of their borough).
   • 4 influence markers (placed in their play area as a supply); the remaining 10 are placed in the general supply.
   • 4 messages: shuffled face down, placed one on each market place at the edges of their borough, and then turned face up.
   • 9 action cards: shuffled and placed face down as a supply.
   • 3 gold coins.
   • 1 rat marker, placed on space 0 of the plague track in the harbor.
5. Person Cards:
   • Shuffle the 6 brown person cards and place them face down.
   • Sort the 9 gray person cards by the letters on their backs (A, B, or C). Stack them face down with A on top, B in the middle, and C at the bottom.
6. Start Player: Choose a start player, who takes the bell-ringer.

Game Flow

The game is played over three periods (A, B, and C), each consisting of three rounds. Each round follows these five phases in order:

1. Phase 1: Layout person cards: Draw two brown person cards and one gray person card and place them face up.
2. Phase 2: Choose action cards: Players draw three cards from their own stack, keep one, and pass two to the left. This passing process repeats until each player has three action cards in hand (one from their own stack and one from each of the two neighbors to their right).
3. Phase 3: Play action cards: In clockwise order, players execute two of their three cards. The third card is played (placed under the second) but its action is not executed. All three cards are then moved to a common discard stack.
4. Phase 4: Hire a person: In clockwise order, players may pay one gold coin to hire one of the three face-up person cards to use their special ability.
5. Phase 5: Determine plague value: The plague value (sum of rats on the three person cards) is calculated. Players move their rat marker forward on the plague track, adjusted by any reductions they have.

At the end of each round, person cards are returned to their stacks and the bell-ringer passes to the left. At the end of each period (every 3 rounds), players score influence markers in Notre Dame, brown person cards are reshuffled, and action cards are returned to their owners.

Actions and How to Play

To execute an action, a player must place one influence marker from their supply into the corresponding sector. If the supply is empty, a player may move a marker from another sector (or Notre Dame) to the target sector. If they cannot or will not move a marker, the card is discarded without effect.

Action Cards

• Cloister school: Place a marker in the cloister school sector. The player then takes a number of influence markers from the general supply equal to the total markers now in that sector.
• Bank: Place a marker in the bank sector. The player takes gold coins from the supply equal to the total markers now in that sector.
• Residence: Place a marker in the residence sector. The player takes prestige tokens equal to the total markers now in that sector.
• Carriage house: Place a marker in the carriage house sector. Move the carriage between market places up to the number of markers now in that sector. If the carriage stops on a message, the player takes the token and chooses one of four prestige/benefit options. Players must collect a full set of colors before collecting a second of any color.
• Hotel: Place a marker in the hotel sector. With 1-3 markers, the player chooses one option: 1 gold coin, 1 influence marker, or move the rat marker 1 space back. With 4 or more markers, the player performs this action twice.
• Trusted friend: Place the trusted friend in any sector (except the harbor). If already placed, it must move to a different sector (except the harbor). The player then executes the action of that sector. The trusted friend counts as an influence marker.
• Park: Place a marker in the park sector and move the rat marker 1 space back. Additionally, for every two markers in the park, the player earns one bonus prestige point whenever they earn prestige points from any other source.
• Hospital: Place a marker in the hospital sector and move the rat marker 1 space back. Markers here reduce the plague value during Phase 5.
• Notre Dame: Place a marker in the Notre Dame sector and donate 1 to 3 gold coins. 1 coin = 1 prestige; 2 coins = 3 prestige; 3 coins = 6 prestige. If no coins are donated, the marker cannot be placed.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends after the ninth round, following the final scoring of influence markers in Notre Dame.

Scoring Criteria

• Notre Dame: At the end of each period, a set amount of prestige points (6, 8, 10, or 12) is divided by the total number of influence markers present (rounded down). Each player receives this value for each marker they have there. Markers are then returned to the supply.
• The Plague Penalty: If a rat marker moves beyond space 9, the player:
  • Places the marker on space 9.
  • Returns 2 prestige points to the supply.
  • Removes 1 influence marker from the sector with the most markers (the trusted friend cannot be removed).

Victory: The player with the most prestige wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most total gold coins and influence markers in their personal supply wins.

Tips for Winning

• Manage the Plague: Use the Hospital or Park actions to move your rat marker back, as neglecting the health of your borough leads to the loss of prestige points and influence markers.
• Leverage the Park: Placing markers in the park provides a cumulative bonus that increases the value of every other prestige-earning action you take throughout the game.
• Strategic Hiring: Use person cards to optimize your position, such as hiring the Doctor to reduce the plague value to 0 for a round.